Hi, My name is Dave, and although I have been lurking for a while, I have just joined the forum today.  I have found this group to be a valuable source of info, and it helped me make up my mind to buy an S40.

I have recently bought a 2006 S40 for $2500 dollars, which I thought was a pretty good price, given how scarce smaller bikes seem to be these days. The downside of my bike was the high mileage. It has about 16,700 mile on it.

The PO has records showing oil changes every 1000 miles, and a couple of valve clearance adjustments, so I figured the bike was not neglected. The tires were good, and no signs of a drop. There was a little rust on the pipe, probably because he kept it covered outdoors, not in a garage.

Over the weekend, I pulled the clutch cover, and measured the cam chain tensioner extension, which was 17 mm, so I guess I am going to have to do something about that pretty soon. I was also surprised to find the spark plug was less than finger tight.

I also changed the oil and adjusted valve clearance. The clearance did not go well. When I got the engine turned to the TDC mark, I could not wiggle either rocker, so I turned it 180, like clymers suggests, and still no wiggle, then, since 180 was opposite the TDC mark I turned it another 180, and still no wiggle. At this point, I left it at the TDC mark and tried to measure the clearance. It was 0. So I backed off all the adjusters and set them to 0.004", tightened, and turned the crank a couple of times.
Now when I double checked the clearance, It was like about 0.020" inches, but at least I could wiggle both rockers at TDC. So I reset it to 0.004 again, turned the crank a few times, and success, I still had the 0.004" clearance I had set.

I then put it all back together, dropping the the speedo washer under the starter and having to remove it to get it back ( twice! ) and filled it up with oil, and she started right up, with no funny noises or anything.

Then I scared myself thinking I had mis-assembled the clutch cover, because the engine stalled out every time I put it into gear. After a few moments thinking about tearing every thing apart again, It occurred to me to try with the kickstand up!

I have a 2004 savage manual, not the 2006 manual, so I was unable to make any sense of the compression release adjustment. Has this been changed, or was I just not comprehending the book?

The only Issue I have left is the belt squeak. I have tried the various methods discussed here with little luck. Next weekend, I will replace
the rubber shock absorbers behind the wheel sprocket, because there seems to be a lot of play in it.  My squeak is especially annoying, because every time I let off the gas it lets out a little squeak that sounds very much like somebody tapping their car horn behind me.

Dave in Southern CA

I figured it was something like that, but since you can't actually see anything turning 180, I don't know why they can't just say "turn the wrench another 360 degrees".

I found the orientation to start at by turning the crank with my wrench, and keeping a finger on top of each rocker arm. Then I found a place where both arms were at the top of travel and the crank was on the TDC mark.

Anyway, when I did that, still no play in either rocker, I think because someone had adjusted the valves to have NO clearance. I just hope the engine was not damaged by that.

Thanks for the welcome guys.

I'll try the sandpaper, and I also heard you can you use beeswax on the edge.
Does anybody know how much play a new bike has in the sprocket mounted on the wheel? I'm getting about an 1/8" to 1/4 inch, depending on how hard I push on the edge. There is also a noticeable free play if I try to turn the sprocket, maybe 2 or 3 degrees.

Dave

Not too expensive, about 6 bucks each, and you need six.

I read somewhere on this forum that someone tried this and it worked for them.

Hi Verslagen,
I've tried the alignment ( 4 different ways ), and tensioning the belt, both with the 90 degree twist method and the special tool. It may have improved a little, but it still does it.  I hadn't thought about the drive pulley nut though, I will look at that tonight.

I guess I am a little worried that sanding the edges of the belt or waxing it will just mask the problem, so I want to make sure I have tried everything to fix it first.  The sides of the drive pulley seem pretty thin, so won't the belt eventually wear through it if it keeps rubbing? Have you ever heard of this happening?

We are about 3 miles from the coast, but its been pretty dry around here lately.

Thanks Serowbot,
That is reassuring. Do you get that little squeak when you let off the gas that sounds like a car horn? I hope the sandpaper fixes that at least.

The reason I suspect the bushings is that it seems to throw the belt from side to side, depending on whether I am speeding up or slowing down, and the  bike does have 17,000 miles on it now.  So far, no sign of belt damage.

Well, not a car horn right in my ear, but a car maybe half a block back. With helmet on an engine noise, hard to tell, but it gets me every time.

Welcome aboard!
Ken